09:10

Opening address

Keynote

09:30

Session 1: Truth & Trust in the digital age: the various faces of misinformation

From deliberate hoaxes created to cause mischief, manipulate opinions and votes or make money, to media outlets re-circulating unverified or erroneous content, the misinformation ecosystem can take ​on ​many different faces. What are the propaganda techniques used to shift public opinion on key issues? What is the impact of fake news on the functioning of modern democracies?

Speakers

Impact of misinformation on politics

From the American presidential elections to the fall of Jakarta’s Christian governor “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, what is the real impact of misinformation on politics? What are the consequences for a democratic society?

Speakers

Trust and Regulating the New Communication Environment in a Post-Truth Age

Fake news has been and is a complex reality. Regulating it, even in the public interest, involves legitimate concerns of potential intrusions to free speech and weakening the ability of a society to discern, be resilient in the so-called market place of ideas that is crucial in the nourishment and vitality of any society. A multi-stakeholder approach is needed to nurture trust in the various institutions that traditionally has been the bulwark against the forces that seek to divide us."

Speakers

10:30

Morning Coffee Break

11:00

News publishers around the world are constantly upgrading their skills, tools and processes in order to adapt their fact-checking practices and journalism standards to a challenging digital environment. Newspapers and news websites are also actively collaborating with tech companies and journalism schools through fact-checking networks enabled by digital collaborative platforms.

Moderator

Fact-checking the French presidential elections

CrossCheck is a collaborative journalism project launched in France by First Draft News. It brings together newsrooms across France and beyond to accurately report false, misleading and confusing claims that circulate online. AFP was one of the key drivers of the project. How did it operate to cover the recent French presidential elections? What lessons can news publishers draw from this innovative initiative?

Speakers

Investigative journalism for the German-speaking world

Correctiv is a nonprofit investigative newsroom for the German-speaking world. Its goal is to give citizens access to information and to make investigative and informative journalism affordable and accessible to media organizations throughout Germany.

Speakers

Fact Checking in Singapore

Getting the facts right is a core principle of journalism. As fake news continues to proliferate, including on social media and alternative news sites, journalists can do more and do better in calling out fake news, debunking it, and educating readers about facts. How has The Straits Times handled information that purported to be true but was actually false, and stepped up checks?

Speakers

Fake news in Bangladesh: a question of life or death

Up to 79 court cases have been filed last year against the editor of Bangladesh’s most popular English language newspaper after he admitted having mistakenly published uncorroborated allegations of corruption against the country’s current prime minister.

Speakers

12:30

Lunch

13:30

Session 3: The role of tech companies for improving the digital news ecosystem

Social media networks and search engines are among the most popular channels of content distribution and consumption in developed countries. It is naturally on these platforms that misinformation first surfaces and spreads. From direct actions on their own assets to the offering of tech tools, collaborative platforms and partnerships with news media and fact-checking networks, tech companies such as Facebook and Google are at the forefront of the fight against misinformation.

Moderator

Storyful: Social media news verification in real time

A pioneer in the investigation and verification of social news in real time, Storyful provides content and editorial services to publishers hungry for verified social content and information. What solutions does such an organization recommends for tackling the current misinformation crisis?

Speakers

Google News Lab tools and initiatives for fact-checking and verification

Google News Lab is working with the news industry to improve trust in journalism and fight misinformation online. The internet has empowered people across the world to create content and engage in eyewitness reporting at a scale never before possible. But it’s also made it harder to separate fact from fiction. We want to help newsrooms benefit from the wealth of information available by helping journalists verify information online using the latest digital tools and tactics. That's why we helped to cofound First Draft, a nonprofit coalition formed in 2015 to raise awareness and address challenges relating to trust and truth in the digital age. Together, we have trained hundreds of journalists across Asia-Pacific on the latest tools and tactics to fact-check and verify information online. News Lab is also working to help newsrooms implement Google's "Fact Check" label, which identifies articles in Google Search and Google News that include information fact checked by news publishers and fact-checking organizations.

Speakers

The Facebook Journalism Project

Facebook’s endeavour to develop a social infrastructure that will give people the power to build a global community would be vain if the widespread of misinformation deprives us of the shared sense of reality that is required for building common projects.The social media network has therefore pledged to fight fake news and expressed its belief that a strong news industry is critical to building an informed community.

Speakers

15:00

Afternoon Coffee Break

15:30

Session 4: Empowering the civil society for fighting misinformation

According to a Stanford University study, most US students are not able to make the difference between a fake news and a verified information published by a trustworthy news brand. The development of media literacy programs and initiatives adapted to the new digital ecosystem is therefore a high priority. The education of citizens to a savvy consumption of digital content and the adoption of good practices in the creation and distribution of such content is a responsibility shared by many players of the civil society.

Moderator

A Cyber News Verification Lab powered by media students

Hong Kong University undergraduate students taking two foundation courses - Principles of Journalism and the News Media, and Reporting and Writing - practice their fact checking skills on real life cases by contribution to a verification lab powered by innovative collaborative tools.

Speakers

The Role of Media Literacy in Combating Fake News

The Media Literacy Council encourages citizens to be smart and discerning online, through the promotion of core values of empathy, respect, responsibility and integrity. It runs an annual Better Internet campaign, as well as programmes and events to cater to different stakeholder groups.

Speakers

Elves vs Trolls: Lessons from citizen activists in the battle against misinformation

The threats that misinformation represents to sensitive political events such as electoral processes has triggered citizen activists to build up from scratch fact-checking initiatives manned by volunteers. These informal organisations are playing a growing role for tackling the fake news challenge.

Speakers

Journalism values at the service of readers

Journalism values are little discussed but they are more relevant than ever in this new context of information overload and fake news. Established news organisations have a role to play in keeping these values alive, by training young journalists in the craft, upholding standards and also engaging members of the public, including students, on the values behind the news.

Speakers

17:30

Break out session: Fact-checking tools for journalists

Track content with CrowdTangle

This session will take a close look at how you can source trending content and see where false news stories got shared across the social web. CrowdTangle’s Chrome Extension, which you can download now, is an easy way to see how often a link has been shared, who shared it, how influential they are and what they said. It shows you the aggregate share counts, as well as the specific Facebook Page posts, Tweets and Subreddits that shared any URL you want to check. CrowdTangle also helps you measure the performance and impact of your own content and competitors across social media. Since its acquisition by Facebook in December 2016, CrowdTangle is now free of cost and used by hundreds of newspapers, television stations, digital media outlets, investigative journalists, entertainment companies, sports teams and nonprofits all over the world.

Speakers

17:30

Break out session: Researching the past to contextualise the present

The myriad of library and archival materials from the National Library Board offers a wide range of content and perspectives for the information seekers. For instance, while the Formula One Grand Prix has been one of the highlights for locals and tourists alike in the last decade, did you know that the history of the Singapore Grand Prix dates back to the 1960s? And to fully appreciate the city’s greenery, it would be worthwhile to note that there had been attempts to introduce nature reserves in Singapore from as early as 1930s. Join our librarian and archivist as they share about the scope of our historical collection and how the resources can provide fresh insights into present-day Singapore.

Speakers

June 20Tuesday

08:00

Breakfast with Google News Lab

Location:

Singapore Management University (SMU), Law School

Please join Google News Lab for breakfast, where Irene Jay Liu, who leads News Lab's efforts in Asia-Pacific, will share how they are collaborating with journalists and entrepreneurs at the intersection of media and technology across the region.

All registered participants in the Keep it Real conference are warmly welcome to join this session of special interest for journalists, reporters, editors and tech media entrepreneurs. As seats for this event are limited, please pre register by e-mail at: wilson.leong@wan-ifra.org.

08:55

WORKSHOPS

Separate registration required

Following the discussions on June 19, the second day of the present event will feature a series of workshops which will gather experts and key players in the field of fact-checking, news literacy and media policy. Participants in these workshops will design concrete actions and launch projects for effectively fight misinformation in their respective spheres of competence. Invitations to the workshops can be requested by email at gilles.demptos@wan-ifra.org.

09:00

Workshop 1 – Fact-checking

Aimed at senior editors and news publishers, this workshop will discuss internal measures that leading newspapers and information website should adopt to strengthen their practices and the opportunity to create an Asian fact-checking network and/or to collaborate with international networks.

09:00

Workshop 2 – News Literacy

This workshop will gather university professors, high school teachers, government agencies and media practitioners that are involved in news media literacy. It aims at designing new campaigns and initiatives for improving information media and info literacy, especially among the youth.

09:00

Workshop 3 - Media policy

This workshop’s round table discussion will focus on the civic and political implications of new communication technologies. It will seek to define legislative and regulatory actions that should inspire policy makers for adequately tackling the challenge of misinformation in the digital age.